r/Gundam

Recently watched Hathaway 2 and it had me thinking. The EF is clearly a rotten piece of shit. No argument here. It was rotten in Hathaway’s time, in Unicorn’s time, in CCA, in ZZ, Zeta, and all the way in the original 1979 TV show.

Was there ever a point in history that the EF could’ve been changed? My best guess is just after the OYW, but nobody had the political will to do so and the only non douchebag EF high-ranker, Gen. Revil, had been killed.

What do you guys think?

Without spoiling it, the last battle was 15/10. If you didn’t think so please explain to me why I have the need to watch it again.

I hadn't watched it since it came out, and only really did it now to cope with the fact that we still don't have a release annoucement for the sequel in the UK. Like, WTF Bandai. Anyway.

There are two things I'd like to discuss, things that I definitely didn't think back then but my opinion easily changed on re-watch.

1 - You don't need to have seen any Gundam to appreciate it

I thought you'd need to watch 0079, ZZ and CCA to appreciate the character of Hathaway and the world he lives in. But in reality, no? The film makes him repeat that he is the son of a war hero, that he has some military experience, and that the last big event was an older terrorist named Char who tried to destroy the Earth some 10 years prior.

The film establishes on its own that the Federation is kind of the good guys as they're Earth's military force and they have nice charismatic people in it (I really like Kenneth), but that the world's government is full of self-absorbed elites (as seen in the first few scenes) who live in luxury and give their friends infinite privileges (the credit card that Hathaway is given).

It then becomes a film about a terrorist infiltrating his enemies' military establishment and gathering intel, and meeting a girl who questions his motivations and his methods while reactivating some old wound from his past (the nature of which doesn't matter, but he feels he has to protect the girl at all costs).

The Davao attack scene is amazing, and the Xi vs Penelope is a cool fight even though it's obviously too dark to be fully enjoyed.

I'm sure there are people here who showed the film to someone who didn't know anything about Gundam (and were maybe briefed on 0079 and CCA before watching). How did that go?

2 - Back in 2021, I did not agree with Mafty's reasons and methods. I do now.

I am a very lawful good type of person. So obviously, someone killing civilians as collateral damage to the assassination of a couple of government officials does not sit well with me. It should not sit well with anyone. And on first watch, I used to think that there is no way that a kind(-ish) soul as Hathaway would resort to murdering innocents to accomplish a political goal.

But now? I get it. What changed is that 2025 showed us that a lawfully elected government can go completely off the rails with the wrong people in charge as long as they have the military and the billionaire elites on their side. That they will never stop trying to profit, no matter how many citizens they have to lie to and inflict violence on, on their way to more riches and more power. I used to think that these people, should they come to power in the Western world, would never have that kind of reach, that some legal counter-power would slow them. That no one would be outrageous enough to release their criminal friends from prison right after accessing power. That billionaires would not have free reign to further progress their surveillance methods, manipulate the economy and circumvent laws to make even more money with the help of that government because its officials stand to make a lot of money in now legal ways.

You know who and what I'm talking about.

How do you stop this? How do you put better people in charge? Well, Hathaway has no opinion on the latter. But he has the means to be a cog in the machine and disrupt the government, and instill fear in their hearts. Maybe it will make them reconsider their actions. Or maybe removing them is the only way. And that's what he's doing.

Every day, the life of millions is made worse for the benefits of dozens. If you have to kill hundreds of innocents on your way to removing these dozens and saving these millions... the numbers are in your favour.

Now that I agree with Mafty's reasoning, does that make me a terrorist? Of course not. I'm too much of a lawful good person. I would never break a window, let alone harm someone. But I now understand why someone would think that violence is a reasonable course of action under the right circumstances. The overwhelming support for a certain alledged CEO killer shows that more and more people think the same.

These really are weird times we live in.